


no place like home

by bonnieanonnie



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Family, Fluff, M/M, baby!seungkwan, firefighter!seungcheol, single dad!jeonghan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2019-09-13 13:15:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16893294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonnieanonnie/pseuds/bonnieanonnie
Summary: short drabbles looking into the life of single dad jeonghan, his son seungkwan and his 10/10 firefighter boyfriend, seungcheol





	1. i

**Author's Note:**

> i originally posted these on twitter, but they started accumulating so i decided to put them all in one place, sorry if you've already read them! (although chapter 5 onward the drabbles will be posted here directly!)
> 
> they're all very low-effort drabbles, so please don't think too hard about continuity or plot or anything like that, i just write small scenes that i get ideas for!

It starts with the university students in the flat next door accidentally starting a fire in their kitchen trying to make a night time snack. The whole apartment complex is ushered out onto the streets at almost two in the morning while some firefighters get things under control.

Jeonghan is standing off to the side of the building, rocking Seungkwan gently against his chest, desperately trying to soothe the distressed boy. The two-year-old had not taken kindly to being woken by a loud beeping and then forced out into the cold night air, something he'd made sure to express by a good twenty minutes of crying. Jeonghan didn't blame him, and was honestly kind of jealous that he couldn't get away with screaming after having his precious sleep stolen from him.

He presses his lips to Seungkwan's forehead and hums a low melody, trying to distract them both from the cold October air. He feels guilty at having forgotten to bring a proper blanket to keep Seungkwan warm, but in his rush to get the both out it had completely slipped his mind.

"Shh, baby I know you're cold," he says, looking the screaming toddler in the face."We'll go inside soon, ok? Then I promise we'll both get warm and you can sleep in papa's bed, how's that sound?"

He only gets a few hiccuped sobs in response, and he raises a hand to wipe Seungkwan's tears off his face, the guilt growing heavier in his stomach.

Suddenly footsteps approach them, and from the corner of his eye he sees one of the firefighters walk up to them. He turns his head to look at the approaching man, stomach flipping at the handsome features and kind smile the man was sporting.

"Hi there," the firefighter said, looking between Seungkwan and Jeonghan."You and your little one look a bit cold, so I thought you might want to borrow a jacket?" As he speaks the man raises his arm slightly, bringing Jeonghan's attention to the beige firefighter jacket he's got draped over it.

" _Thank you_ , that's so kind of you," Jeonghan says, still rocking Seungkwan back and forth."The alarm startled me so I didn't bring us proper clothing."

"That's understandable," the firefighter is still smiling kindly at them, something in his eyes looking almost fond. He unfolds the jacket and holds it up."May I?"

Jeonghan nods, and as the handsome firefighter drapes the thick jacket over his shoulders and zips it up just enough that Seungkwan's head peeks out he has to hold himself back from blushing.

Once the jacket is zipped up the man bends down a but so he's eye level with Seungkwan, who's finally gotten distracted enough to stop his screaming.

"That's better, isn't it, little one?" He gently boops Seungkwan's nose, and Jeonghan's heart flutters at how cute the sight is.

Seungkwan seems caught off guard by the attention, but ultimately manages a smile and a little giggle.

"Thank you, again, we really appreciate it." Jeonghan says once the firefighter is looking at him again.

"No problem, I'm here to help," He says, running a hand through his hair."We'll probably be done in another ten minutes or so, and then you can head back inside, so hang in there you two, okay?" As he says 'okay' he looks down at Seungkwan for confirmation, but the toddler only waves his hands around a bit and laughs.

Jeonghan tries to come up with something to say, something funny and charming that could keep the firefighter by his side for a bit longer, but ultimately just thanks him once more and lets him get back to so his job.

 

Half an hour later, once he's put Seungkwan back in his bed and changed out of his own wet slippers and socks, he remembers the jacket the firefighter had lent to him. He hadn't seen him as he walked inside and had been too tired to think of going to look for him to return it.

He looks the beige garment over, heart skipping as he finds a nametag, the name 'Choi Seungcheol' printed in neat letters, as well as the name of the firestation he worked at.

Jeonghan thumbed the tag and bit his lip, already planning out how he was going to go about returning the jacket to its owner, as well as (possibly, maybe, _hopefully_ ) scoring himself a date with the handsome firefighter.


	2. ii

It's a Monday afternoon when Jeonghan walks up to the firestation. Seungkwan's still at daycare and Jeonghan should have gone to pick him up right after work, but he couldn't help but want to go alone to return the jacket to Choi Seungcheol. A week has passed since their first meeting and while Jeonghan had wanted to go see him sooner he couldn't, no matter how much his heart wanted, abandon his fatherly duties or adult responsibilities for a handsome man.

As he stares up at the dark brick building nerves start taking hold of him. Would Seungcheol even be working at this time? Didn't firefighters work in shifts? What would he do if he wasn't there?

He takes a deep breath to gather himself, and then walks the last few metres up to the door labelled "main entrance". The room he steps into is smaller than he anticipated, with only a few chairs, an empty receptionists desk and a door he assumes leads further into the station.

He walks up to the receptionists desk and looks over it, there's no one here and as far as he can tell there's no bell to call for assistance.

"Hello?" He calls, unsure. The building seems deserted, and Jeonghan wonders if all firefighters have been called out somewhere to put out a fire."Is anyone here?"

He's just about to walk back out the door, already running through his weekly schedule to see when he could come back and try again, when the door on the other side of the room opens and a tall, handsome man stumbles out.

"Hello! Sorry about leaving you waiting, our receptionist called in sick," He rushes to say and flashes Jeonghan a wide, sharp smile. Jeonghan wonders if everyone at this firestation is model-level gorgeous."Did you need anything?"

Jeonghan stares up at the tall man, fingers clutching the jacket a little tighter, he's suddenly nervous all over again.

"I'm looking for a Choi Seungcheol?" He asks. The man looks confused for a brief second, until he glances down and spots the jacket Jeonghan has in his arms, at which point something seems to connect and he smiles, if possible, even brighter.

"Seungcheol?" The man asks and slips a phone out of his pocket."He should be coming in in about 15 minutes or so for his shift, you wanna wait for him?"

Jeonghan nods."Yeah, I'll wait for him." He hopes Seungkwan won't mind spending some extra time at daycare today. He'll have to lie and say he got held up at work. Yoon Jeonghan, he thinks to himself, father of the year.

"Great! What's your name? I'll let Seungcheol know you're out here when he comes in."

Jeonghan considers telling the man that Seungcheol wouldn't know his name, but figures that would be weird and instead settles for just telling him.

"Yoon Jeonghan."

The man nods."Sit down, make yourself comfortable and he'll be out in a bit!"

The man leaves back through the door and Jeonghan does as he's told and sits down to wait. He tries to distract himself with his phone, he sends a few e-mails and scrolls through various social media, but can't quite escape the jittery feeling in his limbs as he waits for the firefighter to come through the door.

Twenty minutes pass and Jeonghan's chosen to abandon the jacket and his bag on one of the chairs as he wanders around the small reception to look at the photos on the wall. They all depict groups of firefighters that have worked at the station through the years, and in the one labelled most recent he sees Choi Seungcheol's handsome face grinning at him.

The door at the back of the room swings open once more. Jeonghan turns around at the sound and is once again met with the face of Choi Seungcheol, infinitely more gorgeous in the light of day.

"Oh," He says, seemingly taken off guard."It's you."

Regret grabs hold of Jeonghan at Seungcheol's tone, but it's quickly swept away when the other grins at him."Mingyu said a 'Yoon Jeonghan' was here to see me, I'm happy to have a name to attach to your face."

Jeonghan can feel his ears at face heat up at Seungcheol's words.

"I came to return your jacket," Jeonghan says to distract them and hurries over to the chair where his things rest, picking up the jacket and holding it out to the other man."Thank you, again, for letting us borrow it."

Seungcheol takes the jacket from his grasp, their fingers brushing."It really was no problem, you needed it more than I did. Can't have your little one get sick, can we?"

Seungcheol slings the jacket over one of his shoulders and glances around the room.

"Where is your little one, by the way? Home with mum or other dad?"

Seungcheol seems hesitant as he asks and Jeonghan, who'd spent the past few seconds reeling from the brief touch of their fingers, has to clear his throat before he answers.

"Seungkwan's at daycare, still, I'm picking him up after this." Jeonghan pauses for a quick second before adding."It's just me and him."

Seungcheol brightens at that and opens his mouth, before seemingly thinking better of it. Jeonghan raises an eyebrow at him.

Seungcheol starts rubbing the back of his neck, seemingly avoiding Jeonghan's gaze.

"I wanted to ask if- uhh-" He coughs a little."If maybe you'd want to have coffee sometime?" His voice rises at the end, sounding almost squeaky, and if Jeonghan's heart wasn't about to beat out of his chest he probably would have laughed at the other man.

"I mean I get if you can't," Seungcheol rushes to say before Jeonghan has a chance to reply."You're a single parent and all so I know you must be busy, and we literally just met, but I'd really like to get to know you."

Seungcheol's face was adorably red as he spoke, avidly avoiding eye contact, and his shy demeanour made Jeonghan's heart flutter even more.

"I'd like that, yeah." He finally says, voice soft. Seungcheol looks up at him, eyes big and amazed.

"Really?" Seungcheol looks delighted, like Seungkwan whenever something falls over and makes a loud crash, and he struggles to get his phone out of his pocket." You could give me your number? And we could work out a time and place?"

Jeonghan accepts the phone and starts keying in his number."That works. We might have to book a bit in advance," He looks up from Seungcheol's phone, unsure at how Seungcheol would react to the next part of his sentence."Since I'll need a babysitter."

The other man nods eagerly."Yeah, of course! I don't mind, my shifts can get a bit difficult to work around as well, it's-"

The door behind them opens and the same tall man from earlier sticks his head out, looking apologetic.

"Sorry to interrupt," He says to them both, before directing his attention at Seungcheol."We're getting called out."

Seungcheol nods."Gimme a sec, Mingyu." He turns back to Jeonghan and takes his phone when Jeonghan holds it out to him.

"I gotta go, but I promise I'll text you soon, okay?" He flashes another toothy smile at him, Jeonghan smiles back."Tell your little one I say hi!"

Jeonghan laughs and nods, saying goodbye to both Seungcheol and Mingyu and heading for the door.

  


Later that evening, as he's giving Seungkwan a bath, he eagerly tells his son of his encounter with the firefighter. He makes sure to look the toddler in the eye and apologise for being so late to pick him up, to which Seungkwan only responds with a cheerful "Papa!", which Jeonghan takes to mean he's forgiven.

As they're stepping our of the bathroom, Seungkwan stumbling forward tightly wrapped up in his lavender towel, Jeonghan's phone buzzes.

He opens it and sees a text from an unknown number.

"Coffee on Saturday two weeks from now?

// Choi Seungcheol"


	3. iii

As he approaches the apartment door he can hear the muffled screaming of a toddler leaking out from the flat, the sound echoing throughout the hallway.

Once in front of the door Seungcheol pauses, he can still hear Seungkwan's screaming, but he also picks up on Jeonghan's exasperated tone as he tries to soothe the toddler.

He takes his phone out of his suit pocket, just to make sure he's got the right day and time before he lifts a hand and let's a finger hover over the door bell, asking himself if he'd be a bother for coming by, despite them having a date planned. Something thuds to the ground on the other side of the door and Seungcheol presses firmly down on the bell.

He's left waiting for almost five minutes until Jeonghan finally opens the door, hair a mess and face slightly flushed, clad in a t-shirt and worn put jeans, looking much like the single parent he was.

"Hey," he starts, voice unsure."Is everything okay?" Seungcheol asks, peeking over Jeonghan's shoulder to where he can see Seungkwan stand faced into a corner, still screaming.

"I am  _so_ sorry, Seungcheol." He says, raising a hand to rub at his forehead."The babysitter cancelled on us and Seungkwan's been in a  _mood_ all day so I completely forgot to let you know."

A smile spreads on Seungcheol's lips and he pretends not to notice the relief he's feeling that nothing is wrong.

"That's alright," He hurries to reassure."I completely understand, we can cancel the date, if you want, I don't mind!"

Jeonghan's face twists into something unhappy."But you were so excited about this restaurant"

"Seriously I don't mind!" Seungcheol insists. It was true that he'd been excited to take Jeonghan to this specific restaurant, it was popular and on the posh side, perfect to commemorate their fourth month of dating, but Seungcheol would never place a date above a child's well being, he wasn't a monster."We can just take a rain check."

Jeonghan still looks unhappy, lips twisted into a pout. Seungcheol glances back at Seungkwan, whose now resorted to stomping angrily in place instead of screaming, and tries to find the best way to phrase what he's about to ask.

"Unless, you know-" He avoids Jeonghan's eyes and rubs the back of his neck."You'd wanna take him with us?"

He chances a glance up at Jeonghan and flashes a hesitant smile. Jeonghan looks taken aback, but he doesn't seem to immediately hate the idea, which Seungcheol takes as a win.

"You'd be okay with that?" The other man asks, sounding like he'd never considered the possibility of Seungcheol wanting to spend time with his son before.

"Yes! Of course I would!" He tries to fit as much excitement as he can into his words. Him and Jeonghan had been dating for a while now, and while he'd met Seungkwan quite a few times, all their meetings had been relatively short. He liked Jeonghan a lot, was dangerously close to being head over heels for him, but he understood that him and Seungkwan were a package deal, and if he wanted things to get serious he'd have to make sure Seungkwan accepted him. Not that Seungcheol minded at all, he liked kids and Seungkwan was a great kid, loud and playful as toddlers are want to be.

He catches Jeonghan trying to suppress a smile, heart swelling at the sight.

"I mean," Jeonghan's voice sounds contemplative, but Seungcheol can tell he's trying not to let his face show how pleased he is. He holds himself back from leaning forward and kissing him."I don't think I have time to get the both of us ready in time for our reservation."

"We can just go somewhere else," Seungcheol waves a hand, dismissive."Where we go isn't important, I just wanna spend time with you."

He grins as Jeonghan looks at him in wonder, a slight hint of red dusting the tips of his ears.

While the two adults are busy throwing heart eyes at each other, Seungkwan has finally grown tired of throwing a fit all by himself and is now quickly making his way over to the door, curious about what his papa is up to.

"Papa." He states as he comes crashing into the backs of Jeonghan's legs.

Jeonghan swiftly turns around and bends down to look Seungkwan in the eye.

"Done throwing a fit?" He asks, and Seungcheol can imagine he's got his lips pursed and a single eyebrow arched.

Seungkwan only giggles in response, ignoring his papa in favour of happily waving up at Seungcheol.

Seungcheol waves back.

"Do you want to come with us on our date, Seungkwannie?" He asks.

Seungkwan, unsurprisingly, doesn't seem to quite grasp what Seungcheol is asking, but let's out a happy shriek nonetheless.

Jeonghan throws a look over his shoulder at his date.

"I'm pretty sure that's a yes."

 

Forty minutes later finds them at a generic family restaurant a couple of blocks away from Jeonghan's flat. Jeonghan and Seungkwan are wearing matching pink and white button downs and Seungcheol wants to take a million pictures of the cute pair. Seungcheol himself is painfully overdressed in his black suit, despite Jeonghan having taken his tie off for him(Something that had Seungcheol's heart almost beating out of his chest, his poor gay soul not being equipped to handle such sweet, sweet domesticity).

So far the dinner had been great, Seungkwan showing no signs of his previous bad mood lingering. Seungcheol had spent much time interacting with the toddler any way he could, determined to show Jeonghan that he was excellent parent-material.

He's in the process of feeding Seungkwan one of his chips when Jeonghan speaks up.

"You get along with him so well."

Seungcheol stops making dumb faces at the toddler to look up at Jeonghan.

"I love kids." He grins wide.

"I can see that," Jeonghan looks amused, and Seungcheol catches some fondness in his eyes.

"I've been a bit nervous that you wouldn't want to be around him much." Jeonghan confesses, taking a sip of water.

Seungcheol frowns."Have I done anything to make you think that?"

"No, not at all! Jeonghan hurries to protest."It's just-" He shrugs."Most people I've tried to date haven't really been willing to take him on too."

Seungcheol frowns even harder.

"Well they're dumb." He states, silently cursing anyone who'd just abandon someone like Jeonghan just because of his son."Seungkwan's great."

Jeonghan chuckles and gives his son a loving look, letting a gentle hand run through his hair, before he looks back up at Seungcheol.

He feeds Seungkwan another chip, eyes still locked with Jeonghan. Seungkwan, possibly sensing that he's no longer the centre of attention, promptly engulfs the whole thing, little teeth clamping down hard on Seungcheol's fingers.

He lets out a pained yelp and tries to extract his poor fingers, desperately asking a laughing Jeonghan for help.

 

After dessert the three of them leave the restaurant to stroll leisurely back to Jeonghan's apartment, Seungkwan fast asleep in his stroller while Jeonghan and Seungcheol speak softly to each other.

The night is quiet and pleasantly cold, a few centimetres of snow covering everything. Seungcheol has a hand on Jeonghan's shoulder while the other pushes Seungkwan's stroller.

Once they make it to the apartment building Jeonghan lives in they stop, Seungcheol's car parked just a few metres away, and Seungcheol finds himself wishing he didn't have to go.

He briefly imagines following Jeonghan and Seungkwan up the stairs, tucking the toddler into bed, and then staying up watching tv with Jeonghan, cuddling on the couch.

It's far too early for that, though, so Seungcheol settles for kissing Jeonghan good night, three times over, and gently stroking Seungkwan's sleeping face.

He watches fondly as Jeonghan takes Seungkwan in through the door, throwing a kiss at him as he turns around to wave one last time. His heart swells as Jeonghan laughs at him, but still catches the kiss with a gloved hand.

On his drive home Seungcheol hopes Jeonghan got the message: Choi Seungcheol is prepared to stick around.


	4. iv

Jeonghan watches, heart swelling with affection, as Seungcheol gently scoops up some water to dump it, with perhaps just a tad too much excitement, onto Seungkwan’s little head. 

Seungkwan splutters a little, but continues to splash happily in the water, chubby arms waving back and forth to create the biggest waves he could.

When Jeonghan had informed Seungcheol that today was Seungkwan’s bath day, Seungcheol had asked if he could have a bath too, an unreadable look on his face.

Jeonghan will admit that whatever he’d expected was far less innocent than Seungcheol stripping down to only his underwear and getting into the tub with Seungkwan, carefully following Jeonghan’s instruction for proper toddler cleaning.

Currently Seungcheol was discussing tonight’s choice of bedtime story while cleaning behind Sengkwan’s ears, going into detail about the pros and cons of each story option while Seungkwan just continued to play.

It was still fairly new, Seungcheol staying over. Jeonghan had wanted to make sure things were serious between them before allowing the other man to spend the night. Seungkwan was still too young to ask questions, but Jeonghan still felt the need to be cautious with the people he let into their lives. However, Seungcheol was the dream boyfriend; understanding and accommodating, always respectful of Jeonghan’s boundaries, but also eager to grow closer to both him and Seungkwan. This had eventually led to Jeonghan, seven months into dating, asking Seungcheol if he’d want to sleep over.

He didn’t regret it. Because of Seungcheol’s ever-changing work schedule he hadn’t stayed over more than a handful of times, but every time he had had been great, even the third time when Seungkwan had gotten a spontaneous stomach bug, throwing up all over Seungcheol’s shoes.

 

When Jeonghan finally deems Seungkwan appropriately clean he swiftly scoops him out of the tub and wraps him in his bright yellow towel, swiftly pulling the hood over his face so he won’t have to look at his son’s deadly pout while he whines for more playtime in the water.

He hears Seungcheol step out of the tub behind him and pauses his drying of Seungkwan to catch an appreciative look at his boyfriend in the mirror. Having a firefighter boyfriend was the best, he thinks while watching Seungcheol wrap a towel around his waist, soaked underwear still on. Jeonghan lets his eyes roam over Seungcheol where he stands, his broad back on display.

He’s brought out of his drooling when Seungkwan whines more earnestly, face grumpy where he’s looking up at Jeonghan from under the towel hood.

“Bath time is over now, Seungkwannie.” He says sweetly, knowing full well it wasn’t going to stave off Seungkwan’s incoming fit. 

As expected, Seungkwan’s lower lip starts wobbling and his eyes start to water.

Seungcheol comes to the rescue, picking his phone up from the counter and tapping away on it.

“Does Seungkwannie want to sing?” He asks, throwing Seungkwan an excited smile, Seungkwan quickly interrupting his whining. At soon-to-be three years old Seungkwan’s favourite hobby was already music, the little boy frequently singing to himself as he played or ate or went on the potty. It was adorable and incredibly useful for distracting him from his own bad moods.

Seungcheol starts a song on his phone, the sound echoing off the tiles in the bathroom, and Jeonghan quickly hands Seungkwan off to his boyfriend. This was a little routine Seungcheol had developed with Seungkwan all on his own; whenever the toddler got fussy he’d put on a song, take him in his arms and lip sync excitedly in front of a mirror, Seungkwan doing his best to follow Seungcheol’s lip movements. They referred to it as singing, even though there was little singing actually involved.

He watches Seungcheol press their heads together, both looking into the mirror as the music plays, Seungcheol swaying to the intro.

When the vocals start Seungcheol begins to lip sync with gusto, Seungkwan following adorably while being bopped up and down in Seungcheol’s arms.

The sight is toothache inducing, Seungkwan’s chubby cheek squished against Seungcheol’s sharp cheekbones as his little mouth formes shapes trying to follow Seungcheol.

Jeonghan lets out an excited giggle and claps appreciatively when Seungkwan looks over at him. Seungkwan is only momentarily distracted though, quickly back to focusing on lip syncing in time with the singer.

Jeonghan keeps watching the two as they play around, Seungcheol dancing along to the music, holding Seungkwan securely to him as the boy wiggles a bit in excitement. At one point Seungcheol stops lip syncing himself, merely swaying along and watching as Seungkwan carries on.

Jeonghan’s heart swells as he watches Seungcheol press a kiss to Seungkwan’s cheek after he makes a particularly cute face, the domesticity of this scene not at all lost on him. He watches his boyfriend dance with his son, an adoring look on his face as he exaggerates his lip movements in time with the vocalist, and basks in how lucky he is to have them both.

As the song ends Jeonghan starts cheering loudly, clapping to show his appreciation. He comes up and wraps his arm around both Seungkwan and Seungcheol as best as he can, having to dodge Seungkwan waving his arms happily. He up and presses a kiss to each of their cheeks.

“You two have a bright future ahead of you in showbiz,” He says, letting his arms circle around Seungkwan.”But now it’s bedtime!”

Jeonghan hears Seungcheol protest through laughter as Seungkwan is stolen right out of his hold and whisked away, but ignores him in favour of hurrying off toward his son’s bedroom.


	5. v

Seungkwan is a very clever boy. He knows this because his papa, Seungcheol and his teachers tell him so all the time.

So when the new teacher (the one with the nice smile and pretty hair), sits down next to him one day, points to his drawing and asks is that you and your daddies? Seungkwan has to sit back and think for a bit. He looks at his drawing, carefully studying the little figures depicting him, his papa, and Seungcheol in the park they’d gone to this weekend.

Daddy was another word for papa, Seungkwan knew as much, so while he knew his papa was his daddy, the question still remained whether or not Seungcheol was also his daddy.

If Seungcheol was his daddy, that would mean he had to do all the things a daddy was supposed to do.

Did Seungcheol pick him up and drop him off for daycare? Yes, not as often as his papa, but sometimes Seungcheol would come to take him home if papa had to work late, or stay home with him in the morning so they could sleep in when papa had to be at work early!

Did Seungcheol kiss him goodnight like his papa did? Seungcheol couldn’t always kiss him goodnight, because sometimes he had to be at his job at the firestation (Seungkwan had been to the firestation once with papa, it was really exciting and he’d got to sit inside the firetruck) or at home at his own house when he got homesick, but Seungcheol would always call him to say goodnight and send him so many kisses over the phone.

Did Seungcheol play with him? Yes! Seungcheol was almost even more fun to play with than his papa, because he didn’t get tired as quick as papa! Seungcheol could run and jump and play for much, much longer than papa!

Seungkwan frowns and turns to face the new teacher. Seungcheol did all the things a daddy was supposed to do, sometimes even better than his papa, so why did he not call him daddy? He thinks about it as hard as he can, but he couldn’t remember why he was supposed to call Seungcheol Seungcheol, he just always had, because Seungcheol had always been there.

The new teacher laughs when she saw him thinking so hard, and carefully ruffles his hair, teasing him about not hurting himself frowning so deeply.

Seungkwan stopps frowning then, instead letting a wide smile take over his face.

“Yeah, I’m drawing me and my daddies!” He states proudly, getting back to colouring his papa’s brown hair. It only made sense, he thinks to himself, Seungcheol did all the things a daddy was supposed to do, so that must make him his daddy.

 

-

 

Seungkwan is a clever child. Jeonghan knows this because no matter how hard he tries he has yet to manage to hide his candy stash in a place where his four-year-old is unable to find it and tear into it. Seungkwan is the sweetest child he has ever met. Jeonghan knows this because whenever his son senses that his papa is tired or worn out, he sits them both down and insists on singing his papa a lullaby. Seungkwan is also the most beautiful boy in the world. This Jeonghan knows because he has two functioning eyes.

But despite all the wonderful qualities his son possesses, Jeonghan would be the first to admit that his life would be a whole lot easier if he didn’t have a four-year-old son dead set on making himself an orphan by giving his poor papa a heart attack every two weeks.

This time the attempt on his life comes in the form of a delighted shout of Daddy! as soon as Seungkwan hears Seungcheol coming in through the door. Jeonghan, who had been calmly chopping up vegetables for their dinner, barely avoids cutting his fingers off when he jumps at Seungkwan’s loud cry. He puts the knife down, carefully but quickly, and sets off to where he can hear Seungkwan padding excitedly into the hallway to meet Seungcheol at the door.

His heart is pounding in his chest and he’s not sure if it’s happiness or dread he can feel churning in his stomach. They’d never really talked about it, what Seungkwan was supposed to make of Seungcheol’s constant presence in their life. Jeonghan knows he should have brought it up, made it clear with Seungcheol what the other man wanted to be to Seungkwan, but he’d never been able to bring himself to do it, a dark, insecure corner of his heart still scared that Seungcheol wouldn’t want them both.

Almost two years had passed since they started dating and, up until this very moment, Seungkwan had been happy with Seungcheol just being Seungcheol. Jeonghan’s not sure what’s changed, but whatever has put this idea in Seungkwan’s head Jeonghan is half-dreading having to deal with it. When he rounds the corner to their little entrance hall he stops abruptly. Seungcheol is standing by the door, jacket and shoes still on, with a blank expression on his face as he looks down at the child in front of him.

Jeonghan’s about to say something to diffuse the situation, he’s not sure what, but his mouth is open and ready to spew out explanations and apologies, when Seungcheol gets to it first. A wide smile spreads over his handsome face, possibly the widest Jeonghan has ever seen, and his whole face seems to light up with happiness.

Jeonghan’s heart beats even faster, but whatever anxiety he felt is now replaced by the flutter of butterflies in his stomach, tickling a fond chuckle out of him.

“Hey, little one!” Seungcheol says as he quickly toes off his shoes and discards his jacket on a chair by the door, Seungkwan is excitedly tugging at his clothes to get him to bend down for a hug.

Seungcheol crouches down and envelops Seungkwan in his arms.

“We missed you, daddy!” Seungkwan says, winding his little arms tightly around Seungcheol’s neck.

Seungcheol looks up at Jeonghan, then, a silent question in his eyes. _Is this okay?_

Jeonghan has to keep himself from breaking out into delighted laughter, he gives Seungcheol a wide smile of his own, nods quickly, subtly. Seungcheol presses a kiss to Seungkwan’s head, eyes still locked with Jeonghan’s.

“Daddy missed you too!” He leans back to look at Seungkwan again.”I’m starving! Should we go and help make dinner?”

Seungkwan lets out a series of loud shrieks, his own way of voicing agreement, and tears his way out of Seungcheol’s arms to turn and run into the kitchen.

“No running inside!” Jeonghan calls out, to no avail, as the boy slips past him. His attention is brought back to Seungcheol when he feels a hand land on his hip, a pair of soft lips touching his cheek not soon after.

“Honey, I’m home.” He whispers into his skin, and Jeonghan can feel the smile on his lips.

“You don’t even live here.” He teases, despite being fully aware that Seungcheol spent far more time in their flat than he did in his own. Seungcheol leans back, eyebrows raised in mock surprise.

“I don’t?” He looks around, face still a mask of confusion.”I could have sworn I did!”

Jeonghan chuckles, bites his lip.

“You don’t,” he starts, hands coming up to fiddle with the bottom of Seungcheol’s shirt.”But you could?”

It comes out as a question, a little hesitant, a little unsure, but when he looks at Seungcheol he knows his face is hopeful.

Seungcheol is smiling again, gums on display. He nods happily.

“Yeah, I could.” He leans forward to press their lips together, Jeonghan meeting him halfway, hands coming up to rest on either side of Seungcheol’s face.

They aren’t left alone for long, however, a loud bang traveling in from the kitchen.

“Papa! Daddy!” Comes the scream of an impatient Seungkwan.

“We’re coming, Seungkwannie!” Jeonghan says, reluctantly pulling away from his boyfriend.

“We’ll talk later.” Seungcheol promises, pressing one last kiss to Jeonghan’s nose.

He hums in agreement, heart happy, and sets off to see how much havoc Seungkwan has managed to wreak the few minutes he was alone.


	6. vi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeonghan decides it's time for them to get married. Crying ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just want to say again that there is really no planned out plot for this thing, so i have no idea how many chapters there will be, or when ill update, im sorry if that's disappointing TT (and btw while right now the chapters have all been pretty mcuh chronological they probably won't always be, so get ready for that)
> 
> and sorry that there's not rly any seungkwan in this... he will be back next time!

He runs his fingers over the ring, lying safely tucked between the folds of fabric inside the velvet box. It had taken him ages to find a ring he thought suited Seungcheol, but he’d finally settled for a ring made of several thin strips of white gold, braided together. It had reminded him of Seungcheol as soon as he saw it. It was durable but attractive, fitting perfectly Seungcheol’s responsible and kind-hearted nature. His stomach flutters with nerves as he thinks about what he’s planning to do.

It made sense. They'd been together for almost three years. They lived together. His son even referred to him as dad! It made perfect sense.

That didn't make him any less nervous, though.

They'd talked about it a few times, just to make sure they were on the same page when it came to their relationship. They both saw marriage as something awaiting them in the future. Seungcheol had, on multiple occasions, admitted that he saw himself spending the rest of his life with him, meaning that there was really no need for worry. His stomach flutters again, hands trembling at the thought. He wanted nothing more than to marry Choi Seungcheol. Wanted to have him in his life for as long as he lived.

And more than anything, if anything was to happen to him, he'd want Seungcheol to be the one taking care of Seungkwan.

“Jeonghannie!” Seungcheol calls from outside the bathroom.”Are you almost done, love? We need to leave soon to make our reservation.”

Jeonghan snaps the jewellery box shut and slips it into the pocket of his slacks. At first he’d planned on proposing at the restaurant, but when he thought it through he realised he wasn’t particularly keen on having a packed restaurant watching him cry as he attempted to ask Seungcheol to spend the rest of the life with him.

“Just about done now!” He calls, quickly spraying some perfume on his wrists before unlocking the bathroom door. Seungcheol’s smiling face greets him on the other side.

“Oh my god,” he whispers, staring at Jeonghan in amazement.”What’s an angel doing in my bathroom?”

Jeonghan rolls his eyes, but can’t suppress the blush dusting his cheeks at the flattery.”Stop being cheesy and let’s get going.”

He was going to propose the second they got back home, when it was just them, alone in the comfort of their own home, no prying eyes or watchful stares. Just Yoon Jeonghan and Choi Seungcheol, promising to spend their lives together.

 

The walk to the restaurant is quiet, Jeonghan far too nervous to make good conversation. He does his best to act like everything’s normal, but he keeps himself from speaking too much, worried he’ll accidentally spill his secret. Proposals were tricky, he decides, feeling Seungcheol’s grip on his waist tighten a little as they walk through the door to the restaurant, how was he expected to keep something as important as a proposal from the one person he confided everything in?

Things get easier during dinner, a few sips of wine helping Jeonghan calm his nerves. The wine, coupled with Seungcheol’s animated story about the dumb antics his coworkers had gotten up to lately, made him feel relaxed and happy, the proposal slipping from his mind as he enjoyed his date with Seungcheol.

They’re sharing a piece of cake for dessert when Seungcheol’s phone buzzes with a picture from Mingyu. They open it eagerly, then spending ages cooing at how cute their son looks, curled up on Mingyu’s couch, clutching an almost empty bowl of popcorn as he drools in his sleep.

It’s a perfect date, really.

 

After dinner they walk through a nearby park on the way home, Jeonghan’s stomach fluttering with excitement as they discuss all the pictures of Seungkwan Mingyu had sent them during the course of the evening. He cracks a joke at poor Mingyu’s expense and watches, heart swelling, as Seungcheol bends over in loud laughter.

Jeonghan is so fucking in love with this man.

He looks down at the ground below them, takes in the wet sludge of half-melted snow and mud and decides Seungcheol probably wouldn’t mind if he didn’t get down on one knee.

He’s made a decision.

“Seungcheol, wait.” Jeonghan says as he grabs Seungcheol’s hand and pulls him to the side, until they’re standing right underneath the light of a streetlamp. He positions himself in front of his boyfriend, glancing around to make sure they’re alone, takes a deep breath, and says.

“I love you.”

Seungcheol’s eyes go soft, face overcome with dopey expression, fondness pouring out of him.

He opens his mouth, no doubt to say it back, but Jeonghan hurries to cut him off before he’s got a chance to speak.

“You are the second most important person in my life,” he continues, voice going breathless as he looks into the eyes of the love of his life.”And I have never felt as safe and at home with another person as I do with you.”

Seungcheol’s hands come up to his waist, thumbs stroking him gently as he speaks. Jeonghan’s heart stutters.

“You’re Seungkwan’s dad, I can’t imagine raising him with anyone but you.” Jeonghan takes a deep breath, lifts a hand and starts digging through his pocket for the box.

Once he’s got it in his hands, held up between him and Seungcheol, it’s like his breath stops, making him incapable of speaking.

“I— I wanted to ask—” He stutters, eyes downcast with nerves.

"Jeonghan." Seungcheol interrupts him before he manages to form the words he needs to say."You can't be serious."

Jeonghan's eyes shoot up at Seungcheol's words, dread pooling in his stomach. Had he misunderstood? Did Seungcheol not want to marry him after all? His mind instantly goes into overdrive, face flushing an even deeper red from the anxiety swirling in him at Seungcheol's unexpected reaction.

Seungcheol's still looking at him with big, surprised eyes, and while one part of Jeonghan's brain can clearly see that he's not angry or offended, the less logical part of him is convinced that he's horrifically fucked their relationship up forever.

"W-what's wrong?" He manages to stutter out, fingers thumbing the velvet of the box in his hands. He watches Seungcheol take a couple steps back, feels his hands leave his waist, immediately missing the contact. Seungcheol’s hand digs in his pocket, and then, before he knows it, Seungcheol's holding out a velvet box of his own.

The anxiety melts away as quickly as it had surfaced. He lifts a hand up over his mouth in surprise, tears of happiness pooling in his eyes.

"I was going to ask when we got home." Seungcheol says, amazement in his voice, a sheen of happy tears in his own eyes."I didn't think you'd like me asking in public."

"I was going to ask at home too!" Jeonghan chokes out eagerly, tears threatening to fall any second."But I couldn't wait."

For a few long seconds neither of them speak or move, content to just stand and look at each other. Seungcheol with that horribly love struck look he got sometimes when he couldn't quite believe how lucky he was. It makes Jeonghan flush, if possible, even deeper. The stillness is broken by Seungcheol, quickly bending down until he's on one knee in the dirty sludge.

"Don't!" Jeonghan protests."You'll get dirty!"

"I really, really don't care, Hani." Seungcheol says with emphasis. Jeonghan considers feeling bad about not wanting to endanger his slacks even in the name of romance, but then he catches how Seungcheol winces as the wetness and dirt starts seeping into his trousers. He gives him a pointed look. I told you so, it says. Seungcheol doesn't acknowledge him, instead he holds up the jewellery box, then looks meaningfully at the box in Jeonghan's hands until Jeonghan holds his up as well.

“Yoon Jeonghan,” Seungcheol says, voice serious, but face split in a huge grin.”The love of my life, my soul mate, my second favourite person in the whole world—”

Jeonghan catches the wetness pooling in Seungcheol’s eyes and it makes him blink fast, trying to keep his own tears at bay.

“— I’ve been told great minds think alike,” Seungcheol continues.”So since we both managed to plan the exact same proposal, we truly must be meant for each other.”

“Yoon Jeonghan,” he says again, opening the box in his hands, Jeonghan doing the same.”Will you marry me?”

At this point, the tears are streaming down both of their cheeks, and Jeonghan, through loud sniffles and a wobbly lower lip manages to choke out.”Of course I do!”

They exchange rings, Jeonghan admiring the way the tiny lavender stones on his ring glimmer in the light of the streetlamp they’re under. With rings on both their fingers, they rush into each other’s arms.

"Sorry for not getting on one knee," Jeonghan sniffs into Seungcheol's shoulder after a few minutes of silence.”The ground’s dirty.”

"It’s okay," Seungcheol laughs, voice still thick with tears as he speaks."Your legs are precious, can’t have them exposed to the elements."

Jeonghan laughs into Seungcheol’s neck, burrowing further into his fiancé, enjoying the embrace.

"Seungkwannie has to come on our honeymoon," he says quietly."I couldn't stand going away without him."

Seungcheol takes hold of Jeonghan's arms and moves them from around his neck, leaning back until he's looking him in the eyes. Jeonghan slides his hands down through Seungcheol's grip until he can thread their fingers together. The way Seungcheol looks at him makes more tears stream down his cheeks.

Seungcheol shushes him gently, but seeing as he's got a Niagara fall of tears streaming down his own cheeks, the effect is a bit underwhelming. They were both such sappy idiots.

"I know, my love." He whispers."Don’t worry, okay? It'll be perfect, Hani.”

He leans forward to lock their lips in a gentle kiss. It's messy and wet, both of them doing terrible jobs at suppressing their hiccups and happy giggles. When they separate they stay close, foreheads touching and noses gently rubbing together.

"I'm so glad Seungkwan is at Mingyu's tonight." Jeonghan says, eyes still closed."We're going to have the sappiest sex ever."

Seungcheol chuckles.”Can’t wait, angel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [@fairycakehannie](https://twitter.com/fairycakehannie)  
> pls.... make friends with me....


	7. vii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're going back in time for this one for some more much-needed fluff

When Seungcheol parks his car outside the small, harmless-looking building, a wave of nerves overcome him.

He tries to tell himself that it isn’t that big of a deal, that there’s absolutely no reason to be nervous, but it does little to soothe him. Through the small gap in his rolled down window he can hear the faint echoing of laughing children, and the sound makes the lump in his stomach grow even bigger.

His hands clench and unclench around the leather of the steering wheel as he tries to steel himself for what he’s about to do, eyes staring blankly ahead as he psyches himself up.

He was going to walk in there, with confidence, and pick Seungkwan up from daycare.

No big deal.

Except, it kind of was a big deal. A huge deal, in fact.

Jeonghan had called him, frantic and out of breath, asking if he’d please go and pick up Seungkwan from daycare later in the day, citing an emergency at work that was going to keep him far past his usual hours. Seungcheol’s not sure what kind of emergencies usually crop up at music academies, but he wasn’t about to question Jeonghan when he’d sounded so obviously frazzled. So as the perfect boyfriend he was he had agreed enthusiastically, honoured to be Jeonghan’s first choice.

It wasn’t until he’d hung up, phone tucked back into his pocket and attention back on the tv in front of him that the implications of the request dawned on him.

Jeonghan wanted _him_ (!!!!) to pick up his _son_ (!!!!). Jeonghan encountered an emergency, something that got in the way of him looking after his son, and he’d called _Seungcheol_ . Not his parents, not his sister, but his boyfriend( _that meant Seungcheol!!!!_ ).

His body had gone unbearably hot and cold at the same time, the movie he’d been watching droning on, though Seungcheol had completely lost interest. His face was flushed with pride and excitement, while his hands were cold with the fear that he was somehow going to screw this up.

What if he messed up somehow??? What if he lost Seungkwan???? What if Seungkwan _died_???? He had a feeling Jeonghan wouldn’t want to keep dating him if he killed his only son.

As nervous as he was, his chest still warmed up at the thought of spending some alone time with his boyfriend’s three-year-old. He’d been alone with Seungkwan before, of course, but only for short periods of time, when Jeonghan went to the bathroom or paid for something at a restaurant they were at. This would be the first time he’d be alone, properly, with Seungkwan.

He’d been unable to stop himself from grinning at the thought, and as he’d fished his phone back up from his pocket, unlocking it just so he could admire his background, he felt most of his nerves subsede.

The background was a picture of Jeonghan and Seungkwan from a couple months ago, on their one year anniversary, and smiling up at the camera in their matching dungarees they looked unbearably adorable.

He looks at it again, now, still in the driver’s seat of his car with sweaty palms and a churning stomach, and feels the nerves subside.

It was going to be fine. Sure, this was technically a huge step in their relationship, but the focus now was on Seungkwan, and how they’d get a whole evening together at Seungcheol’s place. He was going to make it the best evening ever, and Seungkwan was going to love him forever, which meant Jeonghan would have no choice but to also love him forever.

As he climbs out of the car and strolls up to the entrance he pats himself on the back for coming up with such a foolproof plan.

Stepping into the entrance of the daycare, Seungcheol is struck by how quiet the building is, and looking around he sees no shoes or jackets lined up on the child-size hangers in the room.

“Hello?” He calls out, unsure if he was allowed to go further into the building.

The unmistakable sound of small, bare feet padding eagerly across the floor reaches him, then, and a few seconds later a small chubby girl, wearing only a diaper, stands in the doorway leading from the entrance and into the rest of the daycare. The little girl grins at him and waves, Seungcheol waves back.

“You’re a little young to be a daycare worker, I’d say.”

“Hyejinnie!” Comes the call of a woman, before a long haired figure swoops in and scoops the little girl up into her arms.”You can’t escape me, you little menace!”

Seungcheol chuckles at the sight, and the sound draws the attention of the daycare teacher.

“Can I help you?”

“Ah- yes, I’m-” He clears his throat and rubs his hands on his jeans.”I’m Seungcheol, here to pick up Seungkwan?”

A look of recollection graces the woman’s face, and she smiles kindly at him.

“Yes, of course, the boyfriend, right?” She walks up to him, one hand still holding the little girl and the other stretched out in a greeting.”Jeonghan told us you were coming.”

“Yeah, that’s me.” He affirms, proud smile on his face, and takes her hand. _The boyfriend_ , that was him.

“I’m Yongsun, Seungkwan is out back with the other kids, just head out there and get him and I’ll sign him out.” As she speaks she points behind her to where the edge of a glass door can be seen.

He nods in thanks and gives a last wave to Hyejin, before heading for the back door.

The backyard of the daycare is a flurry of activity when he steps out, with at least a couple of dozen children running around. He scans his surroundings, looking for Seungkwan’s specific head of black hair in the sea of tiny, dark haired children.

In the end Seungkwan is the one who finds him, a loud, high pitched shriek of _‘EUNGCHEOL_ echoing from the far end of the play area before, in what has to be Olympics worthy time, a small figure comes crashing into his legs. Seungcheol just barely keeps his balance, hands coming down to make sure Seungkwan hasn’t given himself a concussion from the impact.

“Hey, little one!” He greets, once adequately reassured of Seungkwan’s health.”Papa sent me to pick you up, he’s busy, so we have the whole evening to ourselves!”

As he spoke, Seungkwan had managed to take hold of his hands and was now happily swinging himself around using them as leverage.

“I know!” He says, excited, as he twirls a little on his feet.”Papa called Yongsunnie to say you were coming, and he said we can play aaaall night!”

Seungkwan jumps while he speaks, and once he finishes he looks up at Seungcheol, chubby face glowing with delight. Seungcheol’s heart shrivels up at the adorable sight, and as he ushers Seungkwan back into the daycare to fetch his things, he wonders if Jeonghan would be upset with him if he took Seungkwan for ice cream.

  


Later that evening, when Jeonghan lets himself into his boyfriend’s apartment(using the spare key he’d helped himself to a couple months prior), he finds his two favourite people cuddled up together on the couch. They’re lying stomach to stomach, Seungkwan’s little head rising and falling in tandem with Seungcheol’s chest and his tiny, tiny fists clutching the grey fabric of Seungcheol’s hoodie. 

The sight makes a warm, fuzzy feeling envelop his chest, and he spends a few peaceful minutes just silently admiring the two from where he’s standing by the door of the living room. 

They looked so comfortable where they were resting, Seungcheol’s gentle hand holding onto Seungkwan, making sure he didn’t roll off the safety of his chest, but finally Jeonghan could be an onlooker no more, and silently tip toes up to the two, taking a seat on the edge of the plush couch.

He leans down and buries his face into Seungkwan’s back, reveling in the soft, sweet scent of his baby, and wraps his arms as best as he can around him and Seungcheol.

His contact makes Seungcheol stir and let out a raspy hum, the deep sound making Jeonghan’s stomach flutter.

“I want to cuddle too.” He whines, nose still buried in his son.

Seungcheol chuckles above him, sleepy and soft.

“What’s stopping you?”

“The couch is too small for the three of us,” he pouts, tilting his head so he can meet the eyes of his boyfriend, lips pursed.”Gonna have to kick someone off.

“Why do I have a feeling you mean me?” Seungcheol deadpans, one hand coming up to run through Jeonghan’s hair.

Jeonghan grins.”You know your place, I see.”

They drift off into silence, content to just lie there and look at each other, only Seungkwan’s occasional sleepy snuffling breaking the silence.

“Did everything go okay?” Jeonghan finally asks. He felt bad about having sprung something like this on Seungcheol so last minute, and if he was honest this wasn’t how he’d wanted this step in their relationship to have been taken, but he’d still been pleased when Seungcheol had agreed so readily.

“It’s been great,” Seungcheol’s hand comes up to stroke his face again, calloused fingers running gently over his skin.”We made vegetarian burgers.”

Jeonghan closes his eyes and leans further into Seungcheol’s touch.

“That sounds like a complicated meal to make with a three-year-old.” Seungkwan had never really had trouble eating vegetables, being so obsessed with everything colourful that the taste hardly mattered when his meal was as colourful enough to distract him, but he was still surprised Seungcheol had gone for something so advanced.

“It wasn’t too bad,” Seungcheol hums.”He liked all the colours, besides,” Seungcheol’s hand comes down below his chin, tilting his face up a little bit further.”I wanted to impress you.”

Jeonghan grins and sits up, only to lean down again and press an adoring kiss to his boyfriend’s lips. Seungcheol matches his enthusiasm, and Jeonghan almost forgets about the sleeping toddler between them, but right when the kiss is about to turn heated, Seungcheol’s hand skirting the waistband of his trousers, Seungkwan stirs.

“Ppa-” He sniffles, still half-asleep, making Jeonghan and Seungcheol separate quickly to attend to their little one.

“Hi, sweetie.” Jeonghan coos, swiftly scooping Seungkwan up into his arms.”Did we wake you?”

“Mm,” Seungkwan hums, curling up against his papa’s chest.

“Did you have fun with Seungcheollie today?”

“Mm!” Comes another hum, this one significantly more excited.”Fun! Got ice cream.”

Jeonghan raises an eyebrow at Seungcheol, who looks appropriately guilty.

“Ice cream, huh? In the middle of the week?”

“Yeah! To celebrate!” Seungkwan leans back so he can look up at his papa, eyelids still heavy, but mouth moving quickly, eager to share his story.

“Celebrate?”

”Yeah, had to celebrate the first Cheollie-Kwannie night, right, little one?” Seungcheol sits up a bit, leaning his back against the armrest of the couch. His arms are outstretched so his hands are still resting against Jeonghan and Seungkwan, as if he wants to make sure they don’t go anywhere.

“First of many!” Seungkwan says, serious. Jeonghan leans down and rubs their noses together, making Seungkwan giggle.

“Yeah, sweetie, first of many.” He avoids looking up at Seungcheol when he says it, knowing his boyfriend would be wearing that adorable, wide grin he wore whenever he felt proud, and Jeonghan would have no choice but to kiss him the whole night through if he saw him wearing it.

He rocks from side to side where he sits, feeling Seungkwan’s body grow looser and looser with sleep.

“Hey, baby?” He whispers, throwing Seungcheol a quick look. Seungkwan makes a noncommittal noise from where he’s tucked under Jeonghan’s chin.”Should we go and see if Seungcheollies bed is big enough for all three of us?”

 Seungkwan lets out another sleepy noise, while Seungcheol slips off the couch to stand in front of them, fuzzing unnecessarily as Jeonghan rises from his seat with Seungkwan in his arms.

They head off to bed together, Jeonghan stealing a pair of boxers and a hoodie out of Seungcheol’s closet to sleep in. Once tucked in they stick close together, Jeonghan and Seungcheol with their arms thrown over each other, Seungkwan tucked safely between them.

 

 


	8. viii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> seungcheol has the best birthday ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am eternally grateful to [whiteshores](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteshores/pseuds/whiteshores) for betaing this little piece ♡♡♡ go read her fics!!! they're absolute perfection!!

 

When the sound of a ringtone reaches Seungcheol's ears, he pays it very little mind, too busy carefully pouring over the shirts in his and Jeonghan's closet, trying to figure out which shirt to wear for this very special occasion.

It was his birthday, and five years ago this day wouldn't be anything special. Back then, his birthday meant a call from his parents, a shift at work, and then a few drinks with Mingyu and Jihoon at the bar by the fire station. 

Now, though, his birthday meant coming home to Jeonghan and Seungkwan getting up to no good in the kitchen, the six-year-old coming to meet him in the hallway with a kiss and stern orders to wait in the bedroom until he was summoned. Seungkwan had held his hand and marched him, with purpose, to his and Jeonghan's bedroom, and, right before he closed the door, he'd stuck his little face back through the door and whispered,

"Happy birthday, daddy, I love you." The second Seungkwan disappeared through the door, Seungcheol had fallen down onto the bed, legs giving out at the sheer force of his son's cuteness.

He'd needed a distraction, something to keep him from pressing against the door to eavesdrop on his darlings preparing his surprise, so he'd decided to get changed.

That's what he's doing when the phone calls, a happy little tune demanding his attention from the bedside table on the other side of the room. Seungcheol considers not answering, attention fully on the arduous task of picking out an outfit appropriate for the grand surprise he was surely in for, but then he realises it’s his birthday, and it might be his mother.

He plucks a possible shirt option from the closet, keeping it on the hanger, and walks over the the ringing phone.

 He doesn’t bother checking the caller ID before he answers, merely brings the phone to his ear as he holds the shirt up to himself, takes in the way it looks in the mirror, before he frowns and puts it back. It wasn’t a good day for green, he decides and moves on with his search.

"Seungcheol?" It's Joshua, their social worker, and while a call from Joshua would make Seungcheol pause any other day, today he was too busy basking in the domestic bliss of having a family to prepare birthday surprises for him to register the call as the unusual happening it was.

"That's me," he responds, thumbing at one of Jeonghan's soft sweaters, fond smile on his face.

"I'm calling about your application status," if Seungcheol wasn't so distracted, he'd be able to pick up on the excitement in Joshua's voice."I have good news."

"That's nice," Seungcheol holds the phone between his shoulder and his ear, diving into the closet to look at some shirts in the back. Maybe he'd go for something pink today?

"Seungcheol," Joshua's voice is strangely serious, but just when the thought enters his head, Seungkwan's delighted laughter travels in from the kitchen and Seungcheol's mind strays again."You're adopting a baby."

“That’s ni-” Seungcheol freezes, his mind blank.

"What." He deadpans."I- wait- what?"

"So now you pay attention." Joshua's voice is clearly smug, and Seungcheol has the thought that he might be fucking with him.

"Joshua what the fuck?" He's so lucky Seungkwan isn't close by, the boy had already gotten in trouble once for calling a playground bully a motherfucker, and ever since he’d eagerly jumped at the chance for calling his parents out for their hypocrisy whenever they slipped up in front of him.

"This is a call to inform Choi Seungcheol and Yoon Jeonghan that an opportunity for adoption has been found and that arrangements will be made to transfer the child into your care within the coming weeks." Joshua's words are formal, but Seungcheol can hear the happiness in his voice. Joshua had been Jeonghan and Seungkwan's social worker for years, being such a good friend that he came over for the occasional holiday. Delivering these news must make him just as happy as the prospective family."You're getting a baby, Seungcheol."

"He's six months old, Korean," Joshua keeps speaking, but Seungcheol can't process anything more than  _ you're getting a baby _ .

They were getting a baby. Him and Jeonghan were going to be parents, again. Him and Jeonghan were- Jeonghan? Jeonghan!

"Jeonghan!" He stumbles to the door, phone still pressed to his ear. He faintly picks up on Joshua laughing at him.

The second the bedroom door opens, Seungkwan meets him in the hallway, insisting that Seungcheol go back in the room.

"Jeonghan!" He swiftly maneuvers around his son, but fails to dodge the attack on his legs, ending up with an ankle monitor shaped like a six-year-old."Baby!"

Jeonghan sticks his head into the hallway, frown on his face."What is it? You're going to spoil your own surprise."

"Baby!" Seungcheol's trying to find the words to explain what's going on, but it's like his mouth won’t form any word beside 'baby' because _ holy shit they're getting a baby _ .

"Yes, what is it?" At this point, Jeonghan is looking at him like he's actually crazy, and Seungkwan is still valiantly trying to stop him from going any further. Joshua sounds like he's in tears laughing on the phone.

"No," he stresses, holding the phone out."Baby."

Jeonghan takes the phone from his grip, still looking at him like he thinks he's losing it. As Jeonghan puts the phone to his ear, Seungcheol bends down to free his legs from Seungkwan's grip.

"Daddy you're being weird." Seungkwan states, arms circling around his neck instead of his leg. Seungcheol hugs him close and lifts him up. Jeonghan often scolded him for still carrying Seungkwan around, claiming he was spoiling the boy and would ruin his back in the process, but to that Seungcheol usually just flexed his biceps and pointed out that he carried people all the time for work. Besides, Jeonghan was no stranger to being carried by Seungcheol, and pointing this out was a very effective way of shutting him up, with the bonus that it always made him blush.

"I know, little one," his blood is rushing through his veins, heart beating fast. He presses kiss after kiss to Seungkwan's face.

"Daddy!" Seungkwan giggles, face scrunching up in the most adorable way.

Son in his arms, Seungcheol looks over to Jeonghan, currently on the phone with Joshua.

"What?" His husband's voice is so small, but so hopeful, and Seungcheol hadn't planned on crying, but when Jeonghan's eyes go wide and his gaze locks with Seungcheol, it's like the dam breaks and his eyes instantly grow wet."Really?"

"Yes, really," Joshua's voice is muffled, meaning Seungcheol can only pick out a few words. It sounds like he's explaining the situation, something about “initial arrangements” that fell through, and Seungcheol should be paying attention but he's too busy trying to blink back his tears.

"Why are you sad, Daddy?" He feels Seungkwan's soft hands pawing at his cheeks, trying to wipe away tears that haven't fallen yet.

"I'm not sad, Seungkwannie," he looks at his boy, his beautiful, beautiful oldest son, and can't resist pressing a swift peck on his downturned lips."I'm so, so happy!"

"Why?" Seungkwan asks, getting impatient. Seungcheol looks over at Jeonghan.

"I-" Jeonghan's hand comes up to run through his hair. His face is going red, a clear sign that he's holding back his own tears."Wait, Joshua, I'm putting you on speaker."

Jeonghan takes the phone from his ear and pushes a button.

"Joshua!" Seungkwan screams as soon as Jeonghan holds up the phone between them, bouncing excitedly in Seungcheol's grip when he realises who's on the phone."Daddy and Papa are being weirdos!"

"That's my fault," as Joshua speaks, Jeonghan walks up to the rest of his family, attaching himself to Seungcheol's arm, burying his face in his shoulder. Seungcheol pretends not to notice him covertly wiping his eyes on his T-shirt, instead just pressing a kiss to his hair."Wanna know why they're being weirdos, Seungkwannie?"

"Yeah! Tell me!"

"They're really happy because you're going to get a little brother!" When Joshua says this, Seungkwan's face goes blank for a few seconds, and his eyes travel between his dads' faces."You're going to be a big brother, Seungkwan!"

Something like realisation forms in Seungkwan’s eyes, and a split second later, the boy breaks out into tears. 

"Sweetie?" Jeonghan's voice is caught off guard, and him and Seungcheol share a look of panicked confusion."Seungkwannie what's wrong?"

"Why are you upset? I thought you wanted a sibling?" Seungcheol can feel the panic rise in his chest. Seungkwan was the one who, a year ago, had told them that he wanted a sibling, stating that it was very unfair that his best friend Hansol got to be a big brother and not him. After that, the idea had been planted in Jeonghan and Seungcheol's heads, refusing to leave until they took the step and sent in an application. Throughout the whole adoption process, Seungkwan had talked non-stop about how excited he was to be a big brother, detailing everything he'd do once he had a sibling. Safe to say, this was not the reaction they'd anticipated.

Seungkwan only cries louder at their questions, a heavy stream of tears rolling down his red cheeks.

"U-uhm," Joshua stutters on the phone."Maybe you should call me back when you have time," he says awkwardly."I've sent an email with pictures and some info."

Rocking Seungkwan in his embrace, Seungcheol tries to soothe him, Jeonghan's hands, now void of a phone, coming up to gently wipe the tears from Seungkwan's face.

"Please tell me what's wrong, little one," Seungcheol pleads with his son, heart is aching seeing Seungkwan so upset.

"I-I'm-" Seungkwan tries to speak through his own sobs, but can't seem to get the words out from how hard he's crying.

"Shh, baby," Jeonghan coos, tugging at Seungcheol's arm until he gets the hint, moving to sit down on the floor."Tell papa and daddy what's wrong."

Once they're on the ground, Seungkwan moves to sit between them of his own accord, tugging their arms around himself. Seungkwan had always needed lots of physical affection, ever since he was a baby, and over the years they'd come to find out that nothing calmed him down quite like being wrapped up in his parents' arms.

"I'm re-really, really," he hiccups, lower lip trembling as he speaks."Happy."

The tears that had dried up in his panic at Seungkwan's reaction come right back to Seungcheol's eyes, and this time he doesn't bother blinking them back. How had he managed to get so lucky? Meeting Jeonghan had been like winning the lottery, but to have gotten a son like Seungkwan was like being handed a gift from the universe itself.

"Oh, sweetie," Jeonghan moves down to nuzzle against Seungkwan's cheek."You scared us!"

"Why?" Seungcheol laughs at Seungkwan’s wide eyed expression, face beet red and snot dribbling down his face from his crying.

“We thought you didn’t want to have a sibling anymore,” Seungcheol explains, hand coming up to wipe at Seungkwan’s face with his sleeve, long since numb to the messy nature of children.”We got scared you’d changed your mind.”

At this, Seungkwan frantically shakes his head, getting up on his knees to look at his parents.”I haven’t changed my mind! I’m super, super, suuuper happy!”

“We’re super, super, suuuper happy too, Seungkwan.”

 The rest of Seungcheol’s birthday is, perhaps understandably, overshadowed by the news of their successful adoption. During dinner(consisting of Seungcheol’s favourite dish) they all huddle around Jeonghan’s laptop, looking at the pictures Joshua sent of the boy that was soon to be theirs. Seungkwan gets so excited about the pictures he insists he needs to draw something for his new baby brother, and so, while Jeonghan puts the candles on the cake and prepares three glasses of juice, Seungcheol aids their son in drawing a nice little picture of their family, arrows pointing to each of the four figures, explaining who they are. Daddy. Papa. Seungkwan. Chan.

 

-

 

 When Jeonghan walks into the living room, Seungkwan safely tucked into bed, he finds Seungcheol on the couch, smiling dopily at his phone. Padding up to his husband on light feet, he easily makes himself comfortable against his husband’s chest, arms around his middle and head tucked under his chin. He doesn’t need to look at his screen to know what Seungcheol is looking at, he’d spent most of the evening looking at the same thing.

“Has it been a good birthday?” He asks, tightening his arms around Seungcheol’s middle.

“Best birthday ever.” Seungcheol breathes out in response, the arm not holding his phone stroking up and down Jeonghan’s back.”He’s so beautiful.”

 Jeonghan’s heart flutters at his husband’s reverent tone of voice, as if he still couldn’t believe that the boy in the pictures was going to be theirs. Jeonghan can’t quite believe it either.

_ Chan _ , he thinks to himself, and his stomach swoops. The pictures had depicted a tiny baby with an impressive head of black hair, wrapped up in blankets or tucked into the arms of social workers. Joshua had explained that Chan had been on track to be adopted by another family, but at the last minute something had been discovered that made the adoptive family be deemed unfit, and Joshua had, in his own words, fought tooth and nail to get Seungcheol and Jeonghan to be allowed to adopt him instead. Joshua was a good social worker, and an even better friend, Jeonghan would have to send him a fancy fruit basket to express their gratitude.

“I’m so excited to meet him,” Jeonghan buries his face in Seungcheol’s sweater when he speaks, body vibrating with excitement.”Our baby boy.”

“Yeah,” Seungcheol still sounds so full of wonder, and Jeonghan is horribly endeared by it.”Our baby boy.”

“Seungkwan’s going to be such a good big brother.” Jeonghan hums in agreement, there was something in Seungcheol’s voice, something he wanted to say but didn’t. He starts tracing his fingers against his husband’s side, humming as he does so, waiting patiently for his love to open up.

“Seungkwan is my son and I love him more than anything else in the world, but-” he states, Jeonghan stops humming, but doesn’t speak, waiting for him to continue.”Is it bad that this feels different?”

 Jeonghan smiles, kisses Seungcheol’s chest once, and leans up so he can look at his face.

“Not at all,” Seungcheol’s arms wrap around him, a hint of insecurity on his features.”You love Seungkwan, and he loves you, and it doesn’t matter that you weren’t around when I first got him,”

“But you’re also allowed to be excited that you’re going to have that chance with Chan”

 He leans forward, starts pressing kisses against Seungcheol’s jaw, soothing him. He reaches his mouth, presses a chaste kiss there, before he whispers,

“All that matters is that you’re here now, and you’re not going anywhere.” 

Seungcheol’s eyes meet his, and they’re so full of love Jeonghan might combust from the intensity.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he agrees, keeping their gazes locked.”I’m right where I need to be.”

They kiss once more. It starts as an innocent press of their lips, just enjoying being close, but it slowly grows into something hungrier. Jeonghan takes hold of Seungcheol’s lower lip and pulls, legs tangling with his husband’s. Seungcheol groans, hands sliding down from Jeonghan’s waist to his ass.

Jeonghan lets go of his lip, but stays close.”If you’re not too tired,” he starts, proud to only be panting a little.”It is still your birthday, and your adoring husband would like to give you the celebration you deserve.” 

“I’m never too tired for you,” is Seungcheol’s eager response, and seconds later he’s on his feet, Jeonghan muffling laughter into his shoulder as he’s carried away to their bedroom.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pls come talk to me on twitter about domestic jc it's good for the heart and soul @jeonghannieya

**Author's Note:**

> pls feel free to talk about fluffy, domestic jeongcheol with me  
> [twt](https://twitter.com/jeonghannieya) [cc](https://curiouscat.me/jeonghannieya)


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